How did life emerge on Earth? How have life and Earth co-evolved through geological time? Is life elsewhere in the universe? Take a look through the 4-billion-year history of life on Earth through the lens of the modern Tree of Life!
This course will evaluate the entire history of life on Earth within the context of our cutting-edge understanding of the Tree of Life. This includes the pioneering work of Professor Carl Woese on the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign campus which revolutionized our understanding with a new "Tree of Life." Other themes include:
-Reconnaissance of ancient primordial life before the first cell evolved
-The entire ~4-billion-year development of single- and multi-celled life through the lens of the Tree of Life
-The influence of Earth system processes (meteor impacts, volcanoes, ice sheets) on shaping and structuring the Tree of Life
This synthesis emphasizes the universality of the emergence of life as a prelude for the search for extraterrestrial life.

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Week 5 - Paleozoic Plants, Reptiles, and the Transition to Land

In the early Paleozoic, plants evolved to leave the water and invade the terrestrial landscape. Following this transition, vertebrates emerged into land-based ecosystems, and Carbon Dioxide concentrations increased in the atmosphere. The greenhouse warming of the Earth propelled the success of both prevascular and vascular plants, as well as the related terrestrial radiation of the three lineages of the reptiles. This week, you'll also learn about the Permian-Triassic mass extinction and later environmental changes that opened the door to the rise of the diapsids.